Broken Promises
by Whispered Desire
Summary: "Pirates don't keep their promises, love," he whispers gruffly, his finger tracing the outline of her lips, feeling her breath warm his skin. "But you did, once," she counters, barely a whisper. JE. Drabble/Oneshot.


**A/N: **This little plot bunny came to me while rewatching Dead Man's Chest today. I don't know how I feel about this, but I thought I'd share it anyway :)

Enjoy!

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It is not the first time she has found herself pinned between the warm body of the Captain and the hard wood of his cabin wall, but this time she is unsure of whether it is a place she wants to be when his lips on her neck are making her feel like that. She knows how this will end; the way it always does.

"You promised, Jack," she says softly, eyes closed serenely as his lips leave the curve of her neck. Perhaps now was not the right time to mention it, she thinks. When her eyes flutter open, his face is floating before hers.

"Pirates don't keep their promises, love," he whispers gruffly, his finger tracing the outline of her lips, feeling her breath warm his skin.

"But you did, once," she counters, barely a whisper. His finger stills and then she sees; that small, imperceptible twitch of his face and she doesn't know whether to feel pride or remorse. She does not know why her words would cause him to look like that. "You came back, just like you said you would."

She wonders why he does not turn and walk out of her life right now, just as she often wonders why he ever came back. After all they'd been through; perhaps that_ was _the reason.

"He asked me to look after you."

So that is his reason. She blinks quickly to hide her swimming tears. In the two years since he came for her, they have not once mentioned William Turner. But they both remember. She tries to tell herself she is not as disappointed in his honesty as she clearly is.

"Do you really expect me to believe that, Jack?" she asks scornfully, her eyes bitter. She wants to push him away from her and flee the cabin, as she should have done the very first time she found herself in this position. But like all the other times, she finds herself immobile, frozen by his touch.

"There is only one thing I expect from you, Elizabeth," he says tonelessly, waiting for her reaction to what he will say next, "and that is a knife in my back as soon as I turn away."

She flinches and he feels a twinge of victory; he will not let her get away with everything she has managed to do to him, not this time. The tears in her eyes do not soften his stony face.

"Then why did you let me in, Jack?" she challenges angrily, her tears leaving hot tracks through the dirt on her cheeks. Jack's eyes clench shut as though he is in great pain. "Why would you come back for me at all? I don't believe that you would do it simply because Will asked you to."

At the mention of Will's name, Jack's fist slams into the wooden wall beside her head, and he lets out a roar of rage. She gasps, shocked at his outburst. He turns and walks away from her, head in his hands. She stands, frozen to the spot. Perhaps she really has pushed him too far this time.

As he takes his hands from his face, he says bitterly in between heaving breaths, "Because I couldn't get rid of you."

She frowns, confused, as he continues speaking; "Wherever I went, you were there, haunting me. I couldn't make you leave. I don't know what the hell you've done to me Elizabeth, but by the gods, I _hate_ you for it."

He almost spits the last words at the floor; she clenches her eyes shut, wanting to forget she ever heard him say such a thing, it is so painful. He is starting to scare her; she's never seen him like this before.

"No you don't," she whispers softly, attempting to convince herself more than seek reassurance from him.

It takes a while, but after a long pause, he finally turns to face her, his face weary; exhausted. "No," he concedes eventually, "I don't."

She smiles weakly, but this time he does not come to her and her smile fades slowly. This time, she thinks, it will not end the way it always does.

"Jack," she starts, but she does not know what else to say. He stares at her expectantly. She bites her lip before looking at the floor; there are clothes strewn across the wood and she is suddenly conscious of the fact that both of them are only half dressed. She suddenly feels dirty.

"Why won't you keep your promise?" she asks, shaking. "Why won't you take me to Will?"

He truly has no answer for her. His actions over the course of the past two years have been inexcusable and they both know it too well. But she is not exactly an innocent party either. He notes that her cheeks are still flushed from his kisses; his, not Will's. Not her husband's.

So he goes on looking at her, unable to answer her question with anything other than what would be a lie. Because he cannot face telling her the truth; he can barely admit it to himself.

Instead, he asks, "Why do you want to go?"

The question startles her; or rather, her complete lack of an answer does. She doesn't know what to say, so she replies simply with the frightening truth, "I don't know."

He cocks one eyebrow as she begins to tremble. He almost dares to challenge her; one last explosive argument and he might finally break free of the power she has over him. But he changes his mind.

"Elizabeth…" he says quietly, reaching out towards her. He takes her shoulders in his hands as she slumps forward into his embrace. But she is not crying.

"It's been two years, Jack," she says needlessly; he counts the days in the wakeful interlude between dusk and dawn, usually while she is asleep in his arms. "Two years, and I cannot even think of a reason I would want to see him."

There is a small pause.

"I promised I would see him."

He props her chin with his finger, tilting her face up towards his. Her eyes search his, and before he speaks the words, she knows what he will say:

"Pirates don't keep their promises, love."

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**A/N: **Yeah, I know it's not very good. Just a sort of drabble really. Hope you liked it anyway!

**WD,  
xo.**


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